Safety and Occupational Health Specialist

Full Job Description

Safety and Occupational Health Service is recruiting for a well-qualified Safety and Occupational Health Specialist.

This position will be within the Dayton VA Medical Center in Dayton, Ohio, under the direct supervision of the Service Chief, and will work with the Executive Leadership Team, Service Chiefs, supervisors, and committees to eliminate or control hazardous operations and conditions.

They will manage construction safety and fire prevention programs for the facility.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 04/20/2026.

Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service.

An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials.

If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement.

In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade.

Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Individual Occupation Requirement: You must have: At least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 level in the Federal Service that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of a Safety & Occupational Health Specialist that is typically in or related to the work of this position.

Specialized experience includes experience in or related to safety and occupational health that provided the specific knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position.

Examples of qualifying specialized experience include: Managing safety or occupational health program elements.

Developing and recommending safety and occupational health policy to higher levels of management.

Applying safety and occupational health laws, regulations, principles, theories, practices, and procedures to advise on or resolve technical matters dealing with occupational safety and health requirements.

Developing safety and occupational health standards, regulations, practices, and procedures to eliminate or control potential hazards.

Developing or implementing programs to reduce the frequency, severity, and cost of accidents and occupational illnesses.

Analyzing or evaluating new and existing jobs, processes, products, or other systems to determine the existence, severity, probability, and outcome of hazards.

Designing or modifying workplaces, processes, products, or other systems to control or eliminate hazards.

Inspecting or surveying workplaces, processes, products, or other systems for compliance with established safety and occupational health policies or standards and to identify potential new hazards.

Training of workers, supervisors, managers, or other safety and occupational health personnel in safety or occupational health subjects.

Work in occupational fields such as industrial hygienist, safety engineer, fire prevention engineer, health physicist, and occupational health nurse.

OR, Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study -- safety or occupational health fields (safety, occupational health, industrial hygiene), or degree in other related fields that included or was supplemented by at least 24 semester hours of study from among the following (or closely related) disciplines: safety, occupational health, industrial hygiene, occupational medicine, toxicology, public health, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biological sciences, engineering, and industrial psychology.

In addition to the Individual Occupational Requirement above you must also meet the following: Specialized Experience: Applicants must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-9) which provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the Safety and Occupational Health Specialist.

Specialized experience for this position includes: Ensures that fire drills are conducted throughout the facility according to VA and/or local policies, assists management in developing a comprehensive Disaster Plan, and conducts disaster drills.

Develops training plans for employees in fields of fire protection, workplace safety, and occupational health, including accomplishment and documentation of training.

Conducts inspections for safety and fire protection measures. Makes recommendations and follow-up inspections when necessary to assure compliance.

Ability to interpret design criteria sufficient to review construction drawings and specifications for compliance with applicable codes and standards.

Knowledge of all standards applicable to safety, occupational health, and fire protection. Conducts administrative inspections of medical facility for hazards and Life Safety Code violations.

OR, you may also have an equivalent amount of education: Ph.D.

or equivalent doctoral degree OR, 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree OR, LL.M., if related OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Major Duties:

Duties include, but are not limited to: Designated as the Life Safety expert and is responsible for the initiation, development, administration, coordination and auditing all operations in aspects of Federal, State, and municipal safety and fire protection.

Assists the Green Environmental Management System (GEMS) Program Manager, Industrial Hygienist, hazardous materials (HAZMAT) Manager, Emergency Manager, and others as appropriate to ensure that employees, veterans, and others are protected from life safety hazards.

Evaluates and corrects risk potentials arising from fire, occupational, and construction safety, and environmental hazards at the Medical Center and related off-site medical areas, residential homes, nursing homes, and offices.

Assures the validity of data collected, accurate documentation of occurrences and data summaries, and maintenance of program information.

exams available data to identify possible sources of losses experienced, determining critical factors prior to occurrence, and recommendation of alternative adjustments to eliminate or minimize losses from injuries and illnesses.

Provides technical assistance for construction projects and life safety audits to resolve environmental problems.

Defining terminology, writing summaries and preparing documentation related to safety and occupational health.

Conducts in-depth surveys and evaluations of working conditions/environments to determine the nature and magnitude of life safety hazards and the effectiveness of existing control measures.

Conferences with managers and employee representatives to explain the purpose and scope of inspections and the pertinent regulations as well as reviews of hazards noted and ways to abate identified hazards.

Schedules surveys, fire drills, life safety code inspections, construction safety inspections (where applicable) of numerous Medical Center areas, workplace facilities, patient care environments, community based outpatient clinics (CBOC), shops, nursing homes, residential homes, to identify and evaluate risk potential, safety hazards, involving a wide variety of work environments and occupations Develops goals and objectives, prioritizes work activities based on organizational structure, prepares safety policies, procedures and guidelines, develops safety training curriculum and reviews.

Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 0730-1600 Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Safety and Occupational Health Specialist/PD028490 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized